LLARC Study Groups, Summer 2026
The summer 2026 LLARC Study Group schedule is now available. Please see below.
Details
Study groups fill up quickly! Register as soon as you can for the best chance of getting into the study groups you want.
- Study groups are typically led rather than taught by LLARC member volunteers or select Regis College faculty. Most use a seminar format, emphasizing discussion, usually with preparatory reading. Please read descriptions carefully for these details, and note any requested texts or materials that need to be obtained independently.
- Who may join? LLARC welcomes adults with a desire for learning. Summer classes at LLARC are free and open to all!
- Study group leaders will communicate any preparation necessary for the first class meeting
- You are responsible for any additional cost of books and other materials if needed.
We are offering the following Study Groups for summer 2026:
Creative Writing
Virginia Slep
Mondays 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., via Zoom
4 Weeks, Beginning June 8
In this writing group, the creative talents of the participants will be encouraged by their peers. Members are invited to write in any genre: memoir, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, essay, humor, or play. Handouts will be provided to stimulate writing. Participants are given time to share their writings with classmates if they choose. Sometimes, in talking about someone else’s writing, we are able to clarify our own thoughts and abilities. This is a light-hearted, supportive, welcoming group whose members enjoy writing for the fun of it, and it is a continuation from spring 2026.
Virginia Slep holds a BA and an MA in English and taught high school English for 35 years before her retirement. She has been leading this writing study group at LLARC since 2008 and was awarded the 2023 LLARC Bernie Shuster Award for excellence in teaching. She writes a regular column for the North Reading Transcript. Virginia has a PhD in Clinical Hypnosis and has a private practice in Wayland.
It's Summer - Let's Travel!
Ronna Frick
Tuesdays 1 - 4 p.m., via Zoom
3 Weeks, Beginning June 9
Please join us for a three-week summer excursion abroad as we view and discuss three movies set in foreign lands. Enchantment, sunshine, and exotic places await us with these delightful films: Enchanted April (1991), A Month by the Lake (1995), and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011). It should be a lark! We will meet on Zoom three times in June: the 9th, the 16th, and the 23rd at 1 P.M. (Films are subject to change.)
Ronna Frick has led literature and film-related discussion groups at LLARC since 2010 and is a former recipient of the LLARC Bernie Shuster Award for teaching excellence. Prior to LLARC, she taught high school English for over 40 years and served nine years as English department chair at Wellesley High School. She thoroughly enjoys teaching at LLARC and looks forward to another meaningful and fun experience with other lifelong learners.
Generative AI
Joe Tennyson
Wednesdays 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., via Zoom
4 Weeks, Beginning June 10
What is generative AI? How does it differ from GOFAI (good old-fashioned AI), and machine learning? We’ll talk in part about setting up generative AI on your local PC/network using sophisticated, publicly AI tools. We’ll discuss AI tools for a wide range of applications, from chatbots to music composition, and from image creation/manipulation to dialogue partners.
We'll delve into a little theory and two academic papers, but the majority will be using these tools in real-time in class on a network with two Nvidia Spark DGX backend workstations to maximize performance. Hopefully, users will create prompts in class, and we'll feed them to the models, observe, and capture the results. We'll also discuss tools to help expand a specific LLM by feeding it a knowledge graph that augments its own knowledge base, e.g., with new data available after its training cutoff date, or data unique to a specific person or application.
Joe Tennyson worked in the Information Technology field as a software developer, network engineer, and senior manager for forty years before retiring in 2020. He developed an ongoing interest in Artificial Intelligence in the early 1980s and has followed developments in the field as they unfolded since that time. Joe holds a BA in Communication Theory and Methodology from Emerson College and an MBA from Boston College with a concentration in Operations Research.
Book Chats
Karen Mallozzi
Wednesdays 1 - 2:30 p.m., In Person FAC 301
4 Weeks, Beginning June 17
This summer, we’ll look at two powerful new books, one fiction, one nonfiction. Participants may get the books from their library, purchase them online, or to their e-reader.
• Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Woman Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall, Nonfiction
• The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes by Chanel Cleeton, Fiction
Karen Mallozzi has led many Lifelong Learning groups and enjoyed taking courses. She holds a BA from the University of Rhode Island and a Master’s in Religious Studies from Andover-Newton. She worked at the Morse Institute Library during its renovation and expansion at the circulation desk and as an administrative assistant to the then Director. Later, Karen worked at a parish in Wayland and in Framingham as Director of Adult Religious Education. Besides being an avid reader, Karen gardens at home and at a Community Garden plot in Natick, enjoys cooking and eating with the Cookbook group at Concord Library, and volunteers for Natick’s Food Pantry and the Morse Institute Library.
Current Events
Bill Koehler
Thursdays 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m., via Zoom
4 Weeks, Beginning June 11
It’s a shame that there’s nothing going on in the world, huh? Please join us for a lively yet respectful discussion of the most important events of the day, with suggested readings and topics each week. Our discussions are thoughtful and nuanced, with room for all points of view!
William Koehler, Dean of the Sloane School of Business and Communication at Regis College, holds a PhD in Modern European History from Brandeis University and has taught in higher education for over three decades.